Method of treating wet raw materials in the manufacture of cement



May 10,1927. 1,527,553

J. S. FASTING METHOD OF TREATING WET RAW MATERIALS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CEMENT Original Filed Nov. 30, 1923 5 Sheets-Sheet l Qvwemtoz 95 7% [/LM Jilin May 10, 192 I I Q FASTING 1,627,553

METHOD OF TREATING WET RAW MATERIALS INTHE MANUFACTURE OF CEMENT Original Filed NOV. 30, 1923 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 1,627,553 May 1927' J. s. FASTING METHOD OF TREATING WET RAW MATERIALS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CEMENT Original Filed Nov. 50, 1923 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 11min awuemtoz 1,627,553 y 1927" J. 5. FASTING METHOD OF TREATING WET RAW MATERIALS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CEMENT Original Filed Nov; 30, 1923 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 gum/M501 WWIMMQMW 1,627,553 y 1927' J. 5. FASTING METHOD OF TREATING WET RAW MATERIALS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CEMENT Original Filed Nov. 30, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 gvwewtoz I ml/L1 951 Patented May 10, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHAN SIGISMUND FASTING, F VALBY, NEAR COPENHAGEN, DENMARK, ASSIGNOR TO 1?. L. SMIDTH & 00., OF NEW YORK, N.'Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

METHOD OF TREATING WET RAW MATERIALS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CEMENT.

Original application filed November 30, 1923, Serial No. 677,617, and in Denmark December 22, 1922. Divided. and this application filed April 9, 1925. Serial No. 21,790.

The present invention'relates to the drying and burning 1n rotary kilns of wet raw materlals, such as cement slurry, in such a way that the main advantages of the two,

saving in coal or an increase in output or.

both being obtained. I

The commonly used method of burning wet raw material requires a kiln of greater length than is suggested here, that is, besides the heating zone, the calcining zone, and

the burning zone, a drying zone "for the evaporation of the water contained in the raw material must be provided for and a kiln of this description may under certain circumstances involve considerable loss of heat. It has been attempted to explain thenecessity of having a longer kiln for wet burning than for dry, burning by the fact that the products of combustion will require longer time for effectively acting upon the wet material, such as slurry, to be calcined, especially because the pressure of the steam formed in the material to be burnt will prevent the hot products of combustion from penetrating into the same, and the hot products of combustion consequently will only act quite superficially. The loss of heat mentioned above and which under certain conditions arises in the usual wet burning of material in the formof slurry is partly due to the fact that the steam formed will wastefully takeup heat from theflue gases in being superheated to the temperature of the products of combustion. If the raw ma terial could give off its steam to the atmosphere directly instead of to the flue gases such loss of heat could be avoided.

According to the present; invention the steam developed in the drying of the wet material is'developed outside of the kiln or of the heating zone at the kiln and the loss of heat in raising the temperature of the steam is avoided and the hot gases. give off their heat directly to dry material instead of to the wet and thereby deliver the quantity of heat required to the material to be burnt in a far shorter length of the kiln than is otherwise possible. 1

In accordance with the invention, the transmission of the heat in the gases to the wet material for drying the same is efl'ected indirectly or outside of the heating zone by means of bodies which are themselves heated by the hot gases from the zone in the kiln where the carbonic acid is driven out and,

are then brought into direct contact with the wet material so that in this way such bodies act as a heat-transmitting intermediary; these Bodies may be of metal or other material or they may consist of artificial stone or the like. or they may be part of the dried and heated raw material itself.

.The influence of the heat-transmitting bodies upon thewet material may according to circumstances be effected in the kiln itself, but outside of the heating zone, the bodies being in that case fed into the upper or feeding end of the kiln together with the raw material, or in a separate chamber outside the kiln which receives the wet material. This arrangement afl'ords theadvantage that all steam formed is set free at a temperature of only about 100 6., whereby any loss of heat from the products of combustion by superheating of steam is avoided, and

further affords the advantage that the products of combustion from the kiln are kept perfectly free ofv moisture while the steam itself is kept free of products of combustion, and the heat of the'latter thereby can very easily be utilized for any desired purpose.

If a separate drying device is used out side of the kiln in connection with the bodies for transmittin the heat, the dried raw meal-from the rying device can to advantage be separated and taken directly to a point in the kiln at a suitable temperature instead of being returned together with the bodies to the gas outlet of the kiln. In this latter case it is also possibleto provide that this end of the kiln shall be kept. filled with bodies throughout its cross section, the bodies thus also acting as a filter for the dust formed in the products of combustion from the finished product, this filtering capacity being so much more increased if the bodies are moistened beforehand. A filter as described, formed'bv the heat-transmit ting bodies, may also e arranged outside of the rotary kiln proper, as in a shaft or chamber through which the hot gases from the rotary kiln are led. From this shaft or chamber the bodies will pass down into the drying device, where they efi'ect the drying of the slurry. However, part of the bodies may be taken to another shaft or chamber, which may then be used as a recuperator for transmitting the heat from the. gases taken up b the bodies to a medium which is led througi this latter shaft or chamber to be utilized in difierent ways, say as reheated air to support combustion in the kiln pro er or for a boiler.

T e arrangement may also be such that the heat-transmitting bodies are led to the recuperator not directly from the heating ihaft or chamber but from the drying cham- When the productsof combustion are sutlicient-ly hot a lowering of their highest temerature may be utilized in various ways heore they are used for heating the bodies, say in a recuperator, a boiler plant, etc.

I Several embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings,

in which- 3 Figs. I, II and III illustrate in longitudinal section three different forms of apparatus in which the invention may be practiced.

Fig. IV is a view 7 form of apparatus.

Figs. V, VI,'VII and. VIII illustrate in longitudinalsection four other forms of paratus.

In the a paratus shown in Fig. 1, the wet raw material, in this instance in the fprni of slurry, is introduced into the upper end i of the kiln 1 through a hopper 2 from a supply pipe 3. The end of the kiln is enclosed in a dust chamber 4 from which the in elevation of another products of combustion pass into the chim-i ney. At some distance from the end of thekiln, for instance where the temperature in the kiln is about 1000? openings 5 are provided in the shell of the kiln through which openings part of the, material 6 moving towards the zone where the carbonic acid is driven out falls down into a receptacle 7, from which the material having now a temperature of about 700800 C. is taken by means of a.conveying mechanism 8 back to the hopper 2 through which it is again introduced into the kiln together with the slurry. This exceedingly hot material will then effect a very quick evaporation of the water in the slurry, without substantial loss of heat through superheating of the steam which is developed. The kiln is provided 5 with a check ring 9,-and the evaporation" will principally take place between this ringand the outlet end 0 the kiln so that the heating of the materialfi be 0nd C. will set inwhen the material as passed the said ring. As the dryin chamber thus formed is at the extremity o ,the kiln and the steam developed passes directly from the kiln, no heat is wasted through absorption in the steam.

In the form of apparatus shown in Fig. II the dryin of the slurry is not efiected in the end of the kiln as in the form of apparatus shown in Fig. I but in a. separate chamber 10 outside of the kiln, the arrangement being-otherwise the same. The chamber 10 receives the slurry from the pipe 3 and the heated material under treatment which escapes through the openings 5' in the kiln shell. The two materials, that is, the slurry and the already heated material, being thus brought into intimate contact with each other, are then moved through the chamber 10 by a conve or 11 to the elevator 8 and thence to the, fee ing hopper 2.

This latter arrangement possesses, among others, the advantage that the products of combustion passing on to the chamber 4 are perfectly free fromsteam, since all the-steam eaves the chamber 10 through the chimney 12. The gases of combustion are therefore not only very hot but also absolutely free from water, and the loss of heat in superheating the steam is avoided. The heat in the steam can easily be utilized due to the fact that the steam is free from the gases of combustion.

. I11 the form of apparatus shown in Fig. III,-' which in the main is the same as that shown in Fig. II, the, drying chamber surroundsthe end portion of the'kilmthe chamber consisting of an enclosed space 13 through which the kiln end extends right to the chamber 4. The voutside o f the shell within this chamber is provided with inclined shovels 14 which at the bottom of the chamber13'act as conveyors, moving the heated materialv 6 which falls through the' openings 5 together with the slurry fed through the pipe3 into a pit 15 in the rear end of the chamber from which pit the dried material-is again introduced info the kiln through lifters 16. v

* The form of apparatus shown in Fig. IV

I corres onds in the main to that in Fig. III, with tie exception that as shown in Fig. IV the drying chamber surroundingthe end portion of the kiln in this case consists of a drum 17 which rotates together with the kiln proper. The slurry is fed through the pipe 3 to.a pit 18 frofn which by means of shovels or lifters 19 it is lifted into the drying chamber between the kiln 1 and the drum 1?. The steam ,developed in the drying chamber is discharged into a, stationary chamber 20 surrounding the extreme .end of ent manner, in that it is not the heated raw mamas the drying drum 17 and from the chamber 20 the steam escapes through the chimney 12.

The form of apparatus shown in Fig. V

is a modification of that shown in Fig. II, Fig. V likewise showing a drying chamber 10 outside of the kiln into which the slurry is introduced through the pipe 3 together with heated material discharged through the openings 5 in the shell of the kiln, but the drying chamber 10 in this present case is shown as a rotary drum to the discharge end of which a screening device 21 is connected An apparatus of this latter description is intended to be operated in a somewhat differ material proper which isled from the kiln through the drying chamber for the purpose of drying the wet raw material but bodies 22 which are constantly being fed through the upper end of the kiln and there heated by the hot gases. This is the reason why the screening drum 21, or its equivalent, has been added, said drum effecting a separation between the named heat-transmitting bodies 22 which by means-of the liftingdevicc 8 are introduced anew into the kiln) on the one side, and the driedmainly pulverized' raw material on the other side which passes down into a hopper 23 arranged under the screening drum and thence, by means of suitable conveyor (lGVlCQS. 24 (1n the drawing indicated by a broken line) is taken to a chamber 25. This latter chamber surrounds the kiln a little to the left of or below the openings 5 through which the heat-transmitting bodies 22 leave the kiln. a check ring 26' being provided for preventing them from passing into the burning zone of the kiln. From the chamber 25 the dried raw material by means of devices 27 is introduced into the burning zone.

Fig. VI shows a. form of apparatus wh ch.

is likewise arranged for the use of special bodies as heat-transmitting means, that is, for conveying the heat of the flue gases to the slurry in a chamber 10 outside of the kiln. In the main, the arrangement is the same as that shown in Fig. V. but the apparatus shown in Fig. VI provides for such a great charge of special heating bodies 22 that they will fill the whole.cross, section of thekiln end,being prevented"from falling out .through the gas outlet end of the kiln by,

means of a grate 28 and from passing into the burning zone of the kiln bymeans of another grate 29 wi h an outlet device 30.

By this a'rrangement the gases will be very much cooled down, so that the same economy is attained as by burning in a vertical kiln.

It will be observed as a further advantage that special hea ing bodies will act as a filter for the smoke gases, retaining the finished cement dust and the unburnt particles of coal present in the gases,-which will next pass into the drying chamber from which they are returned to the kiln.

The same main idea is the basis of the apparatus shown in Fig. VII, but in a somewhat altered form, the heating of the foreign bodies 22 in this latter case taking place 111 a vertlcal shaft or chamber31 which receives the ho gases from the outlet end of the kiln 1. The bottom of the shaft is hop- It per-shaped and the heat-transmitting bodies 22 pass from this through a funnel 32 into the drying chamber 10; the lower portion of the hopper is provided with holes 33 through WlllCll the gases from the kiln enter into the interior of the shaft, passing through the interstices between the bodies 22 and escaping through ,a chimney 34;

The form of apparatus shown in Fig.

VIII is a modification of that shown in kiln. From the screening device 21 the heat- Jug bodies, by .means'ofshovels or lifters 35, are lifted to a feeding device 36, which takes them into a chamber 37 from which they pass down into a pit 38. and are passed back again to the heater 31 by an elevator 8. The heater 31 is provided with a bottom grate 39 above a chamber 40 in which may be collected potash and other salts which may be present in the gases from the kiln 1 and will be taken up by the foreign bodies 22 and afterwards shaken loose from them at. the grate 39. The material accumulated in this. way can be removed from time to time through a door 41 or the like. i

The heat-transmitting bodies 22 after having pas ed the drying drum lO still retain a considerable quantity of heat, and the purpose of taking them through a separate chamber 37 is to utilize this heat by transmitting the same to air, whichis blown into the bottom of the same by means of a fan 42, and leaves from the top of the chamber through a pipe 43. Air having been heated this way may for instance be used to support combustion in a boiler plant or in.

the burning kiln proper or for any other suitable purpose. In order to prevent the otherwise than through the fan 42 andtheoutlet pipe 43 the pit 38 may be kept filled with water, thus forming a trap for the outlet opening 44 for thebodies from the chain access of atmospheric air to the chamber'37' 1 her 37 to the pit and -gtorthe inlet into the I chamber 31, and it is for this purpose also that the bodies are introduced into the chamber through the feeding device 36.

The apparatus shown in Fig. VIII is so arranged that the bodies 22 before reaching the chamber 37 have all passed through the drying drum 10. However, this isnot absolutely necessary, as the bodiesmay also be taken directly from the chamber 31 to the chamber 37 so that the drying drum 10 and the air heating device 37 will work in parallelism.

The pit 38 may just as well be kept filled with slurry which will then form a coating on the bodies 22 and, consequently, the slurry will be dried to some degree already inthe chamber 31 through the direct influence of the hot gases.

With regard to the heat-transmitting bodies which constitute one of the elements in some of the forms of apparatus described it is to be remarked that these can to advantage be so shaped thatv for a certain volume by the direct action thereon of a current of products of combustion maintained through the kiln in a direction towards its inlet end so as to create therein a highly heated zone, utilizing the waste heat of the kiln to heat heat-transmitting bodies, mingling the heattransmitting bodies so heated with the wet raw material to evaporate the moisture therefrom before it is subjected to the heat of said highly heated zone and delivering thedried and raw material to said highly heated zone. the heat transmitting bodies being again subjected to the waste'heat.

2. In the continuous process of heating wet cement-forming material for the manufacture of cement in a kiln, maintaining a current of products of eombustion through the .kiln in a direction towards its inlet end so as to create therein successlvely a heatlng zone, a calcining zone and a burning zone causing the cement material to be subjecte successively to the heat of said zones, utilizing the waste heat of the kiln to heat heat transmitting bodies, mingling the heat transmitting bodies so heated with the wet raw material to evaporate the moisture therefrom before it is subjected to the heat of the calcining zone and delivering the raw material to the calcining zone, the heat transmitting bodies being again subjected to waste heat. I v

3. In the continuous process of treating wet cement-forming material for the manufacture of cement in a kiln, maintaining a current of products of combustion through the kiln in a direction towards its inlet end so as to create therein successively a heating zone, a calcining zone and a burning zone, causing the cement material to be subjected successively to the heat of said zones, discharging a portion of the heated material from the kiln after it has been subjected to the heat of the heating zone, mingling the heated material so discharged from the kiln with the wet raw material to eliminate the moisture therefrom and delivering the dried raw material to the calcining zone, the heat transmitting bodies being again subjected i to the waste heat.

4. In the continuous process of treating wet cement-forming material for the manufacture of cement in a kiln,-maintaining a current of products of combustion through the kiln in a direction towards its inlet end so as to create therein successively a heating zone, a calcining zone and a burning zone, causing the cement material to be subjected successively to the heat of said zones, discharging a portion of the heated material from the ,kiln after it has been subjected to the heat ofthe heating zone, mingling the heated material so discharged from the kiln with the wet raw material outside the kiln to eliminate the moisture therefrom and (le livering the dried raw material to the calcining zone, the heat transmitting bodies being again subjected to the waste heat.

This specification signed this 27th day of March A. D. 1925. j A

' JOHAN S. FASTING. 

